Garment hanger attachment



Jan. '31, 1967 E- A. FELTON GARMENT HANGER ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 8, 1964 Nil INVENTOR ETHILIA A. FELTON BY 47M fi ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,301,447 GARMENT HANGER ATTACHMENT Ethilia A. Felton, 1135 Chartres St., New Orleans, La. 70116 Filed Dec. 8, 1964, Ser. No. 416,842 2 Claims. (Cl. 22398) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in garment hangers, and in particular the invention concerns itself; with an attachment which may be readily applied to a conventional garment hanger for the purpose of properly supporting garments thereon without creasing, drooping or other distortion.

Conventional hangers, especially those which are formed from wire, cause creasing of garments along the shoulder lines inasmuch as they do not have sufiicient width or thickness to support the garments in a manner comparable to the fit on a human body. It is, therefore, the principal object of the invention to eliminate this disadvantage, this being attained by the provision of the instant attachment which is readily applicable to a conventional wire hanger and includes relatively wide shoulder members for properly supporting a garment placed thereon.

Also, the attachment of the invention is provided with an oval-shaped center portion to properly support the collar of the garment, while resiliently yieldable, split sockets are provided on the underside of the shoulder members of the attachment for engaging the shoulder portions of the hanger and firmly retaining the attachment in position thereon.

Some of the advantages of the invention reside in its simplicity of construction, in its durability, and in its adaptability to convenient and economical manufacture.

With the foregoing more impotrant object and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the garment supporting attachment of the invention applied to a conventional wire hanger shown by dotted lines;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the atachment per se;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 3-3 in FIGURE 1 and shown on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 4-4 in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 5-5 in FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the garment supporting attachment of the invention is designated generally by the reference numeral and is primarily intended for use in association with a conventional wire garment hanger 11 which is illustrated by dotted lines in FIGURE 1.

As such, the conventional hanger 11 is formed from a single piece of wire and includes a horizontal center portion 12 provided with a suspension hook 13, a pair of sloping shoulder portions 14'which extend from the ends of the center portion 12, and a cross bar 15 which spans the lower ends of the shoulder portions, as will be readily understood.

The attachment 10 of the invention is preferably' ice hanger may be projected when the attachment is applied to the hanger, as will be apparent from FIGURE 1.

A pair of elongated, sloping shoulder members 18 extend outwardly from the ends of the collar member 16, it being noted that these shoulder members have relatively narrow inner regions 18 which are substantially of the same width as the collar member, while their outer "regions 18" are relatively wider so as to properly support a garment which is positioned thereon. For the same purpose, both the inner and outer regions of the shoulder members 18 are transversely curved as shown in FIG- URES 3 and 4,,and it will be observed that shallow reinforcing ribs 19 extend longitudinally centrally on the underside of the shoulder members 13 to prevent deflection thereof in the vertical plane. shoulder members 18 are preferably semi-circular in plan,

to properly fit into the shoulders of the garment.

The shoulder members 18 of the attachment are adapted to overlie the shoulder portions 14 of the hanger 11 and block-like projections 20 depend from the outer end portions of the ribs 19. These projections are provided at the underside thereof with split recesses 21 which constitute sockets for the reception of and frictional engagement with the shoulder portions 14 of the hanger. The recessed or socketed projections 20 thus coact with the extension of the garment hanger hook 13 through the passage 17 in the collar member 16 in retaining the entire attachment in position on the hanger. The material from which the attachment is formed is inherently resiliently yieldable to a sufiicient extent to permit the socketed projections 20 to be applied to the shoulder portions 14 of the hanger.

A thin layer of cushioning material such as sponge rubber, or the like, may be applied to the upper surfaces of the shoulder members 18, if so desired.

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, various modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure and various modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

1. The combination of a conventional wire garment hanger having a horizontal center portion provided with a suspension hook and a pair of sloping shoulder portions extending from the ends of said center portion, and a garment supporting attachment formed integrally from one piece of material, said attachment comprising a horizontally elongated oval-shaped collar member overlying said center portion of said hanger, said collar member having an open top, a continuous upstanding side wall and a closed bottom formed with a passage having said suspension hook of the hanger projecting upwardly therethrough, a pair of elongated sloping shoulder members extending from the ends of said collar member and overlying said shoulder portions of the hanger, said shoulder members being substantially wider than the thickness of the hanger and having a transversely curved across-section with relatively wide outer regions and relatively narrow inner regions, said inner regions of the shoulder members being connected to and of substantial-1y the same width as said collar member, reinforcing ribs extending the length of and centrally on the underside of said shoulder members in substantial alignment with the Y shoulder portions of the hanger, and block-like projec- The outer ends of the tions depending from said ribs under said wide outer regions of the shoulder members, said projections being provided at the underside thereof with downwardly extending open slots frictionally receiving therein the shoulder portions of the hanger wherebyto coact with the projection of said suspension hook through said collar member passage in retaining the attachment in position on the hanger.

2. A garment supporting attachment for a conventional wire garment hanger having a horizontal center portion provided with a suspension hook and a pair of sloping shoulder portions extending from the ends of said center portion, said attachment being formed integrally from one piece of material and comprising a horizontally elongated oval-shaped collar member adapted to overlie the center portion of a hanger, said collar member having an open top, a continuous upstanding side Wall and a closed bottom formed with a passage for the hanger suspension hook, a pair of elongated sloping shoulder members extending from the ends of said collar member 'and adapted to overlie the shoulder portions of the hanger, said shoulder members being transversely curved in cross-section and having relatively Wide outer regions with relatively narrow inner regions of substantially the same width as said collar member, reinforcing ribs extending the length of and centrally on the underside of said shoulder members, and block-like projections depending from said ribs under said wide outer regions of the shoulder members, said projections being provided at the underside thereof With downwardly extending open slots adapted to frictionally receive the shoulder portions of the hanger.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,420,101 5/1947 Salrnann 223-88 2,581,631 1/1952 Carta 223 s8 2,622,775 12/1952 Sasaki 22398 2,630,254 3/1953 Rice 22398 3,167,224 1/1965 Landers 22398 FOREIGN PATENTS 476,337 12/1937 Great Britain.

603,059 4/ 1948 Great Britain.

755,742 8/ 1956 Great Britain.

608,440 9/ 1960 Italy.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. THE COMBINATION OF A CONVENTIONAL WIRE GARMENT HANGER HAVING A HORIZONTAL CENTER PORTION PROVIDED WITH A SUSPENSION HOOK AND A PAIR OF SLOPING SHOULDER PORTIONS EXTENDING FROM THE ENDS OF SAID CENTER PORTION, AND A GARMENT SUPPORTING ATTACHMENT FORMED INTEGRALLY FROM ONE PIECE OF MATERIAL, SAID ATTACHMENT COMPRISING A HORIZONTALLY ELONGATED OVAL-SHAPED COLLAR MEMBER OVERLYING SAID CENTER PORTION OF SAID HANGER, SAID COLLAR MEMBER HAVING AN OPEN TOP, A CONTINUOUS UPSTANDING SIDE WALL AND A CLOSED BOTTOM FORMED WITH A PASSAGE HAVING SAID SUSPENSION HOOK OF THE HANGER PROJECTING UPWARDLY THERETHROUGH, A PAIR OF ELONGATED SLOPING SHOULDER MEMBERS EXTENDING FROM THE ENDS OF SAID COLLAR MEMBER AND OVERLYING SAID SHOULDER PORTIONS OF THE HANGER, SAID SHOULDER MEMBERS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY WIDER THAN THE THICKNESS OF THE HANGER AND HAVING A TRANSVERSELY CURVED ACROSS-SECTION WITH RELATIVELY WIDE OUTER REGIONS AND RELATIVELY NARROW INNER REGIONS, SAID INNER REGIONS OF THE SHOULDER MEMBERS BEING CONNECTED TO AND OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME WIDTH AS SAID COLLAR MEMBER, REINFORCING RIBS EXTENDING THE LENGTH OF AND CENTRALLY ON THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID SHOULDER MEMBERS IN SUBSTANTIAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE SHOULDER PORTIONS OF THE HANGER, AND BLOCK-LIKE PROJECTIONS DEPENDING FROM SAID RIBS UNDER SAID WIDE OUTER REGIONS OF THE SHOULDER MEMBERS, SAID PROJECTIONS BEING PROVIDED AT THE UNDERSIDE THEREOF WITH DOWNWARDLY ETENDING OPEN SLOTS FRICTIONALLY RECEIVING THEREIN THE SHOULDER PORTIONS OF THE HANGER WHEREBY TO COAT WITH THE PROJECTION OF SAID SUSPENSION HOOK THROUGH SAID COLLAR MEMBER PASSAGE IN RETAINING THE ATTACHMENT IN POSITION ON THE HANGER. 